Dead Is So Last Year (4 page)

CHAPTER SIX

I was doing laundry
on Thursday when my cell rang. I checked the number of the caller. It was my boyfriend, and a call from him always made my day better.

"We haven't been to the new outdoor theater yet. Let's go tonight," Ryan suggested. "Just the two of us."

I considered the idea. Milk Duds, a dark night, and Ryan. What's not to love?

"Sounds good. What's playing?" The owner of Nightshade's new outdoor movie theater had a fondness for old horror movies, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and stuff like that.

So I wasn't surprised when Ryan said, "
House of Dracula.
" I smiled. "It's a date."

The movie was crowded. A big screen was set upon the pier, close to the Snack Shack, where Poppy worked. The audience members brought blankets and low chairs. People in Nightshade tended to drift in after spending the day at the beach. Or in a coffin. Whichever. I noticed a vampire couple sitting on a blood red blanket in the front.

I was getting pretty good at telling a paranormal from a norm. The lack of color in the couple's skin was a giveaway that they were of the undead persuasion. And the female vampire was absolutely stunning. She bore a strong resemblance to a silent-movie star from over a hundred years ago. Who knows? Maybe it was her.

"Want something?" Ryan asked. "I could use a soda." The Snack Shack stayed open late for the summer movie nights.

"Mmm. Milk Duds and a large root beer, please."

While he was gone, I people-watched. Obviously, Poppy wasn't working at the concession stand, because I saw her arrive with Candy and put a blanket down right next to a group of cute guys. I waved to them and then said hi to a couple of girls from the cheerleading squad. I relaxed in my lawn chair while I waited for Ryan to get back with the goodies.

My sense of contentment was shattered a minute later, when I saw Wolfgang Paxton leading a group of rowdy guys to the front. To my surprise, I saw that Sean was at the back of the pack.
What is he doing hanging out with those creeps?
I thought, then I realized, they were all on the football team.

Everyone except Wolfgang, of course. And why was Wolfgang their leader?

Unfortunately, there was no sign of Bane, who seemed to be able to keep his brother in line.

Wolfie shoved his way in front of a little girl and knocked a box of candy out of her hand. He didn't even pause to say sorry, and all the rest of the guys followed without looking her way. All the guys except Sean, who picked up the candy and handed it to her before continuing on his way.

Sean was wearing a light shirt and shorts. His muscles looked like they had muscles. I frowned. He'd bulked up a lot since I'd seen him last.

Wolfie and his crew flopped down behind the vampire couple. Wolfie leaned forward and whispered something to the female vampire. Her shoulders stiffened, but she kept her gaze firmly on the screen, even though the previews hadn't started yet.

"Did I miss anything?" Ryan handed me my soda and box of candy.

"Not on the screen, but Wolfie looks like he's about to start something."

We watched as Wolfie reached out and touched the female vampire's hair. She ignored him, but the male vampire turned in a flash, his fangs bared and fists clenched.

In response, Wolfie and his pals jumped to their feet. Fortunately, an usher came by and politely suggested that they find a spot far away from the couple.

After a tense second, Wolfie got up and moved several rows back from the couple. His buddies followed.

Ryan leaned forward until his breath tickled my ear. "That usher's dad is the head of a very powerful Were pack outside San Carlos. Even Wolfie's not stupid enough to mess with him."

Apparently, Ryan was plugged into the whole Were community now. It gave me a pang to realize he had a whole life that I wasn't a part of, not really.

He was right, though. At least it seemed as though Wolfie had calmed down. The movie started without any further interruptions.

But halfway through the movie, Wolfie started throwing candy at the vampire couple. There were a couple of loud snickers. The male vampire turned around, and in the dark, his eyes were lit with a red fire.

"I advise you to stop that, Paxton cub," he said in a loud voice. "If I didn't know who your father and brother were, your throat would already be torn out."

Wolfie stood and his cronies followed suit. All but Sean, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was.

"This is the kind of trouble we don't need," Ryan said. "I'll be right back."

The entire movie audience held its collective breath as Wolfie made a slight movement toward the vampires.

I had to do something. No time like the present to practice a little telekinesis. I concentrated and Wolfie's extra-large soda flew out of his hand and landed upside down on his head, showering him with icy cola.

Ryan threw an amused glance my way but continued to where Wolfgang and the others were. "You," he said in a measured voice. "Out." He grabbed Wolfie's arm and twisted it behind his back. His gaze encompassed the rest of the team. "All of you. Now. And don't come back."

Ryan marched Wolfie up the pier. Wolfgang's eyes burned into mine as he passed me, but he didn't say a word.

Sean was the last in line. I grabbed his arm. "What are you doing with those guys, Sean?" I knew they were all on the football team together, but Sean was hanging with—well, frankly, the creeps of the bunch. And besides, Sean was a senior and Wolfie was a freshman.

He shrugged off my arm. "Stay out of it, Daisy."

"Sean!"

But he ignored me and continued after his buddies. I waited a couple of minutes and then followed. I wanted to make sure Ryan was okay. He was a werewolf, but so was Wolfgang and who knew who else in that little group.

There was no sign of them on the other end of the pier, but I caught a glimpse of Ryan standing behind the Snack Shack.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. Wolfgang and his group were gone, all except Sean, who was looking down at the ground when I approached.

"Everything is fine," Ryan assured me. "I just need five minutes alone with Sean.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him a few feet away, hopefully out of Sean's earshot.

"You're not going to fight him?"

"Of course not. He's my best friend. I'm just going to try to talk some sense into him.

He gave me a quick kiss and then I went back to my seat, but it took Ryan longer than five minutes to rejoin me. In fact, the movie was almost over by the time he slid into the lawn chair next to me.

"Sorry, he said. "I didn't mean for that to take so long. He looked grim.

"Is Sean okay? I whispered.

"Stubborn, but he's okay. I think I got through to him about being a little more selective about who he hangs out with. Ryan took my hand. "I'm really sorry, Daisy. I'll make it up to you.

The movie ended a few minutes later, but I hadn't really been paying attention, anyway. I was more concerned about Ryan, and how could I be mad at him for trying to help Sean?

I didn't want our date to end on such a down note. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me.

Ryan looked startled. "For what?

"I ate all the Milk Duds. And the popcorn," I joked, and was relieved when he cracked a smile. It was a small one, but it was a beginning.

"Then you can buy me a slice of pie at Slim's, he replied.

"As much as I love that place, I've been spending all my time there. I'm pretty sure we still have some apple pie left at my house. And no one's home.

"Even better, Ryan said, as we walked out of the theater. And it was.

CHAPTER SEVEN

It mas Friday night.
I had decided to stay home and hang out with Poppy, who still had days awash in tears, mourning the loss of Gage.

Since I was staying home, Ryan had planned a night out with the guys. Rose was working late at the lab, so Poppy and I headed to the video store.

"How about this one? Poppy said. She gestured toward one of the more gory selections in the horror section.

I wrinkled my nose. "How about something with less slash and more suspense?

Poppy wandered into the next aisle. A minute later, she came back waving a DVD. "We're going to watch this tonight."

I peered at the movie in her hand. "
Truly, Madly, Deeply?
What's it about?"

"You'll love it," she replied, but she didn't meet my eyes.

I read the description on the back. "A ghost? You want to watch a movie about a doomed love affair with a ghost?"

"I miss him, Daisy," she said softly, "but I know he's not coming back. As a ghost or anything else."

I frowned." I don't think—"

"It's not any different from when Rose watched
An American Werewolf in London
over and over that time she and Nicholas broke up," Poppy pointed out.

My sister and Nicholas had broken up when they were high school sweethearts. Rose didn't know it at the time, but he had broken up with her because he was having a hard time dealing with being a Were, not because he didn't care about her. They were back together and seemed to have resolved all their relationship issues.

I couldn't resist Poppy's pleading eyes." Okay, but I get to pick one, too."

"The werewolf movies are over there," she said.

I smiled to see Poppy kidding around again, but on impulse, I grabbed a couple of older werewolf movies and then we checked out and headed for home.

Poppy wanted to watch
Truly, Madly, Deeply
first, so I popped it into the machine and settled on the couch next to her. By the end of the movie, we both had reached for the tissues.

I clicked off the movie. "You know what we need?"

"More tissues?" Poppy joked, but her eyes were still watery.

"No, chocolate," I said. "Let's make brownies. With the good chocolate."

We still had some of the chocolate we'd brought back from Europe, although, thanks to me, not very much of it was left.

But it was enough for me to whip up some truly delicious brownies.

"You know, I've really been enjoying cooking the old-fashioned way lately," I said as I stirred the batter. "But my telekinesis might come in handy at Slim's during a rush."

"Have you tried to hone your powers at all?"

I thought about her question. "Not really. I've been busy." I hoped she didn't ask doing what. Summer was for relaxing, right? "I did dump soda on Wolfgang the other night at the movies, using my powers."

"I
thought
that was you," she said.

"He deserved it," I replied.

She chuckled. "Of course he did, but it doesn't pay to get rusty," Poppy said. "Especially not in Nightshade."

She had a point. I poured the batter into the pan and put it into the oven, then gave her a beater to lick.

"Why don't we practice now? We have about half an hour before the brownies are done."

We went outside, where the night sky was sharp with stars. The moon was out, but I noted with relief that it wasn't full yet.

I faced Poppy. "So, what now?" She'd been helping me train to improve the control of my telekinesis ever since we'd found out about it, but it had been awhile since I'd put in any real work.

"Let's try something different," she said. "Try to open the front door, using your mind."

It took me about fifteen minutes, which meant I really
was
rusty, but I finally managed to do it.

"You're horribly out of practice," Poppy scolded me. "You've got to work at it, Daisy."

As she was lecturing me, I heard the howl of a wolf, which was not all that unusual in Nightshade, considering our werewolf population. It was followed by several other howls, closer this time.

I stared up at the moon." Look, it's not even full."

She shrugged. "No big deal. Rose isn't with Nicholas. She's on campus. And besides, Nicholas has a lot of control."

"Yes, but Ryan's out with the guys tonight," I said. As a new werewolf, the last thing my boyfriend should be doing was socializing this close to a full moon. He hadn't completely figured out how to handle the transformation yet, and teen wolves often shifted even when the moon wasn't full.

A minute later, the howls had turned to snarls and the sounds were coming closer. "It sounds like they're chasing something."

"It's not like they're right next door or anything," she said.

But she was wrong. I caught the gleam of red eyes in the darkness.

"Poppy," I said, "I think it's time we went inside. Now."

"But we just..." She trailed off when she saw my face. There was a snarl and then a werewolf appeared out of the bushes about twenty feet in front of us. We weren't entertaining just one werewolf. From my count, it looked like a whole pack. I tried to shake off my paralyzing fear.

"Move slowly," I cautioned her, but Poppy was already bolting for the door.

She'd nearly reached it when a blur of fur and snapping teeth launched itself at her back. I put up a hand, and the next thing I knew, a heavy flowerpot flew across the yard and hit the wolf squarely on the nose. He dropped to the ground, panting and whimpering, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw another wolf creep forward.

I sprinted to the door and made it inside with seconds to spare. I slammed the door and turned the lock, and Poppy and I stood trembling in our foyer. We waited, but there was only silence outside. Then we finally heard the sound of the pack running into the night. I sagged against the door frame.

Poppy took a shaky breath. "What the heck was that all about?" she said.

"I don't know," I said. "But I think they were young wolves—teenagers maybe. They have to be. Why else would they shift when it's not even a full moon?" There was something still puplike about a couple of the wolves.

"There aren't that many young werewolves in Nightshade, are there?" I thought about it, then counting on my fingers, I listed them. "There's Nicholas, Bane Paxton and his little brother, Wolfgang, Elise Wilder, and Ryan. That's all I can think of."

"That's only five," Poppy said. "But you saw a lot more, didn't you?"

I nodded. "I think there were at least eight of them." "Maybe they're out-of-towners," Poppy offered. A terrible thought occurred to me. "Or maybe..."

"What?"

"Maybe someone is increasing the werewolf population." "How does that happen?"

I shrugged. My werewolf boyfriend hadn't been exactly forthcoming about the particulars.

"Ryan might know something," Poppy said.

"He'd never do something like that!" I defended him. "Nicholas, either."

"Of course not." Poppy rolled her eyes. "I meant that since Ryan is a werewolf, he might know or could help us find out more about it." She shuddered. "Those wolves were on the hunt. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't hit that one when you did."

"I'll ask Ryan," I told her, "the first chance I get." I didn't want him to think I was a scaredy-cat, so I decided to tell him in the morning.

I didn't realize that it would be some time before I saw him again.